Traditional model navigation with hierarchical navigation structures is challenged when the model (e.g., an enterprise process model) is huge including complex interrelationships between the model nodes. Visualizing such relationships in traditional model navigation is difficult and as a consequence the user can lose the context. Losing the context refers to confusion as to the root node and where the current navigation node is positioned with respect to the root node in a large and complex model such as an enterprise model. For example in the oil drilling context, if the user is navigating to a particular well, well01, in a loss of context there is uncertainty whether well01 belongs to producing wells and where its location is under the enterprise structure.
For problem resolution in enterprise scenarios, such as in industrial processes, the model users are technical individual(s) such as but not limited to plant managers and reliability engineers, who often need to analyze a particular Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for solving problems that need quick access to related information, such as the well production yield KPI indicating that it moves away from the yield target of X %. A production manager may analyze to try understanding the related causes and how it impacts the overall site level performance. All the related information around the well such as well type, location, maintenance history, well engineer role associated, well downhole pressure, down hole temperature, etc., may be relevant to the problem.
This is challenging when using existing visual representations where the application has hierarchical “model tree”-based navigation for exploring a semantic model to visualize an entity in the model. A semantic model is a conceptual enterprise data model which includes the capability to express information that enables parties to the information exchange to interpret meaning (semantics) from the instances, without the need to know the meta-model. The types and instances of a semantic model are called nodes. Another solution for providing access to the related information relating to a process problem is to pre-build such relationships through dashboard(s) which provides a fixed view.